Brian Baird: Coward (II) You know when the Columbian smacks you that you screwed up.

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Today's Columbian (finally) criticizes Baird (And how often have they done that?) for his cowardly action in making the stupid decision to avoid facing us.

This miscalculation will cost Baird his re-election. A barn-headed ape could see the treasure-trove of mailers and TV ads... a combination of cowardice, stupidity and tying this clown to Obama in ways that make tying candidates to Bush look, well, bush league in comparison.

That said, I have, and no doubt will continue to, hammer the Columbian like a nail. And when even a democrat newsletter like our local paper smacks you upside the head... you know you've screwed the pooch. This time, even this paper, which reflects Mars better then they reflect this community, finally got it right.

No excuses for Baird or the leftists make such weak, pathetic efforts to spin this for him.

Baird was a man of courage. But it seems that Pelosi has his testicles in a glass jar in her office.

Now he is worthy of our scorn and contempt.

I've stayed out of it for the past 4 terms. But now, I'm part of the Mob. Now, I'm in it.


Editorials
In Our View, August 7: Kitchen Too Hot?
Baird takes wrong approach on town hall meetings

Friday, August 7 | 1:00 a.m.

Brian Baird’s decision not to hold regular town hall meetings during a time when his constituents need them most is baffling and misguided.

The Vancouver Democrat has been a champion of accessibility and open government throughout his 10 years in Congress, but as Michael Andersen reported in Thursday’s Columbian, that will change during Congress’ August recess. Baird will hold only "telephone town halls" with selected participants to discuss the crucial and controversial health care reform issue.

Why this sudden change in constituent involvement? "There is this national movement in blogs and on the Internet to go to town hall meetings solely to attack people and intentionally disrupt the ability to have a real discussion," Baird said in a Wednesday telephone interview. "It’s not troubling to me personally; I’ve certainly been to tough town hall meetings in my time. But it’s troubling to those who come with the intent to have serious discussions but get badgered by disruptive tactics, where the sole purpose is to give extremists the chance to shout and make YouTube videos."

But this was also Baird’s chance to show leadership and courage, by facing the meanest crowds of critics. Instead, his stance looks like no stance at all. It looks more like surrender, or retreat, no matter how he tries to paint it as some kind of devotion to decorum. Here’s a better solution: Work with the concept that some rowdy crowd behavior will happen and figure out how to best manage it. These are, after all, Baird’s meetings. He is (or was) the one in charge. The mistake has been made, but it’s not too late for Baird to correct it. He should change his mind and schedule public town hall meetings in August.

If Baird thinks this too shall blow over, well, he’s only kidding himself. Another flaw in his decision is that Baird sets himself up for giving up public town hall meetings permanently. He insists that’s not the case, and he vows to resume regular town hall meetings in the fall. But who says his critics won’t be even more infuriated a few months from now, especially now that he’s aggravated them further by denying them public hearings?

This tactic is unBaird-like, to say the least, considering his track record. He’s no recluse. In fact, it was only last January that this page commended Baird for conducting his 300th town hall meeting in 10 years. That’s an uncommon achievement in accessibility by an elected official. He must know that, as tensions rise, as the rhetoric becomes more bombastic and as the volume soars, the best leaders will meet the challenge, not avoid it.

Such a bold and aggressive approach has been taken by Baird’s fellow Democrat Adam Smith, a Tacoma Congressman. Smith will continue public town hall meetings and will accept the heat. "It comes with the job," he said in a story in The Olympian newspaper. "They aren’t protesters. They are constituents speaking their minds." Smith also told The Olympian that, even if the protests are organized, "what’s wrong with that?"

Baird’s concerns are not without merit. "One colleague of mine recently was hung in effigy at a town hall meeting," he said. "Others needed police escorts. The blog and Internet traffic suggests that some people very much like to do that." But Baird has been there. He’s seen and heard it all. Two years ago, several leather-lung left-wingers let him have it, but good, at a town hall meeting after his stance on the Iraq war was not liberal enough to suit them. He survived, and it was to his credit.

Baird has shown he can handle bullies, at home and inside the Beltway. But unless he reverses course, he won’t be handling them this summer. It’s too hot.